Hilmar starts fast, rolls past Ripon Christian and into section title game
It was the best of both worlds for the Hilmar High football team Friday night.
Not only did the Yellowjackets defeat Ripon Christian 47-28 to earn a spot in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship game. Hilmar (11-1) also earned a shot at redemption for its only loss of the season against storied rival Escalon.
The two teams — top-seeded Escalon and No. 2 Hilmar — will meet Saturday at Lincoln High of Stockton at 1 p.m. with a blue banner on the line.
“I love playing Escalon,” Hilmar coach Frank Marques said. “They’re our arch-rivals. We’ve had many of these battles through the years. ... It’s going to be a hell of a football game.”
Marques admitted to being worried going into Friday’s game against Ripon Christian, but his team jumped on the Knights right away.
The Yellowjackets led 27-0 before Ripon Christian even appeared to get going and by then the Knights were too far behind to make it a contest.
It probably didn’t help that Ripon Christian hadn’t played for three weeks after a bye week and a forfeit over Calaveras.
“I’m not going to make excuses at all,” Knights coach Randy Fasani said. “We made far too many mistakes, basically every play.”
Two key mistakes came when Hilmar defenders intercepted Ripon Christian quarterback Nolan Lingley and ran the ball back for touchdowns.
Joseph Olsson returned one interception 22 yards in the first quarter and Lucas Cardoso got the other, going 68 yards in the third.
Cole Bailey ran for two touchdowns, Steven Silva ran for 88 yards and a TD and junior quarterback Seth Miguel passed for 179 yards to spearhead Hilmar’s offense.
Ripon Christian workhorse Sean McGovern had a big night on the ground, rushing for 139 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries.
Lingley passed for 209 yards and caught a touchdown pass on a trick play early in the fourth quarter.
Hilmar (11-1) now turns its attention to Escalon (11-1), which beat Sonora 40-14 on Friday night.
The Yellowjackets fell to the Cougars 34-21 in their Trans-Valley League opener on Sept. 27.
“We know we played pretty sloppy that first game that we met them,” said Miguel, Hilmar’s junior quarterback. “We thought they were going to move up to D-V, honestly. ... We’re very happy. We get that rematch kind of thing and we’re doing it in a section championship.
“No better way to do it.”
One difference this time could be Hilmar’s improved kicking game.
Sophomore Andre Alves was called up for the playoffs and he connected for two field goals against Ripon Christian, a 29-yarder and one from 41 yards out. He also made all four of his extra-point attempts.
Marques was asked how his team will turn the tables against Escalon this time.
“We’ve got to execute,” he said. “Last time we didn’t do what we needed to do. We made a lot of mistakes. If we just play mistake-free football we’ve got a shot.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 11:20 PM.
